Richard M. Nixon - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com Richard M. Nixon A+E Networks Introduction Richard Nixon (1913-94), the 37th U.S. president, is best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974, halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his administration in the Watergate scandal. A former Republican congressman and U.S. senator from California, he served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) in the 1950s. In 1960, Nixon lost his bid for the presidency in a close race with Democrat John F. Kennedy (1917-63). He ran for the White House again in 1968 and won. As president, Nixon’s achievements included forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union, and withdrawing U.S. troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam. However, Nixon’s involvement in Watergate tarnished his legacy and deepened American cynicism about government.

Google Education and Early Political Career Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California . He was the second of five sons of Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956), who struggled to earn a living running a grocery store and gas station, and his wife, Hannah Milhous Nixon (1885-1967). .Nixon absorbed his parents’ discontent with their working-class circumstances and developed a strong sense of ambition.. Did You Know? While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Richard Nixon won large amounts of money playing poker. He used these winnings to help fund his first political campaign in 1946. He attended Whittier College, where he excelled as a debater and was elected president of the student body before graduating in 1934. Three years later, he earned a law degree from Duke University, where he was head of the student bar association and graduated near the top of his class. After Duke, he returned to Whittier, California, and began working as an attorney.

In 1940, Nixon married Thelma Catherine “Pat” Ryan (1912-93), whom he met while participating in a local theater group. The couple had two daughters, Patricia (1946-) and Julie (1948-). When America entered World War II (1939-45), Nixon joined the U.S. Navy and served as an operations officer in the Pacific. Following the war, Nixon launched his political career in 1946 when he defeated a five-term Democratic incumbent to represent his California district in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a congressman, Nixon served on the House Un-American Activities Committee and rose to national prominence by leading a controversial investigation of Alger Hiss (1904-1996), a well-regarded former State Department official who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union in the late 1930s. Nixon was re-elected to Congress in 1948 and two years later, in 1950, won a seat in the U.S. Senate.

An Unsuccessful Bid for the Presidency Although Nixon’s attacks on alleged Communists and political opponents alarmed some people, they increased his popularity among conservative Republicans. In 1952, General Dwight Eisenhower selected the 39-year-old first-term senator to be his vice presidential running mate. A few months after accepting the nomination, Nixon became the target of a negative campaign that raised questions about money and gifts he allegedly received from industry lobbyists. Nixon answered these charges in his famous “Checkers” speech, claiming that the only gift he ever accepted was a puppy named Checkers for his young daughter. The speech proved effective and preserved Nixon’s spot on the ticket. Eisenhower and Nixon won the election of 1952 and were re-elected in 1956. In 1960, Nixon claimed the Republican presidential nomination, but lost one of the closest elections in American history to U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts . The turning point of the campaign came in the first-ever nationally televised presidential debate. During the broadcast, Nixon appeared pale, nervous and sweaty compared with his tan, well-rested and vigorous opponent. The loss to Kennedy dealt a terrible blow to Nixon’s ego.

He claimed that the media disliked him and had slanted campaign coverage in favor of his handsome and wealthy opponent. Nixon returned home to California, where he practiced law and launched a campaign for governor in 1962. When he lost this election as well, many observers believed that his political career was over. As a disgusted Nixon told reporters, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Winning the White House Six years after losing the governorship in his home state, Nixon made a remarkable political comeback and once again claimed his party’s presidential nomination. He prevailed in the 1968 U.S. presidential election, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey (1911-78) and third-party candidate George Wallace (1919-98). Nixon took office at a time of upheaval and change in the U.S. The American people were bitterly divided over the Vietnam War (1954-75), while women marched for equal rights and racial violence rocked the nation’s cities.

Declaring his intention to achieve “peace with honor” in Vietnam, Nixon introduced a strategy known as Vietnamization , which called for gradually withdrawing American troops from the war while training South Vietnamese army forces to take over their own defense. In January 1973, Nixon administration officials reached a peace agreement with Communist North Vietnam. The last American combat troops left Vietnam in March of that year. The hostilities continued, however, and in 1975 North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam and reunited the country under Communist rule.In addition to dealing with the Vietnam War, Nixon made historic visits, in 1972, to China and the Soviet Union. He reduced tensions between these Communist nations and the U.S., helping to set the stage for establishing formal diplomatic relations. Nixon also signed important treaties to limit the production of nuclear weapons. The Watergate Scandal and Beyond While Nixon was running for re-election in 1972, operatives associated with his campaign broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington , D.C. Several members of Nixon’s administration had knowledge of the burglary and while Nixon denied any involvement, secret tapes of White House conversations later revealed that the president had participated in efforts to cover up the criminal activity.

Facing impeachment by Congress, Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974. He was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford (1913-2006), who a month later pardoned Nixon for any wrongdoing. A number of administration officials were eventually convicted of crimes related to the Watergate affair. After leaving the White House, Nixon retired to California (he and his wife later moved to New Jersey ) and quietly worked to rehabilitate his image, writing books, traveling extensively and consulting with Democratic and Republican presidents. By the time he died on April 22, 1994, at age 81 in New York City, after suffering a stroke, some people viewed him as a respected elder statesman. Other Americans, however, rejected efforts to paint him as anything but a disgraced criminal. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault . Start your free trial today. Tags Richard M. Nixon | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Richard M. Nixon Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) after previously serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from California.

After successfully ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China, he became the only President to ever resign the office, as a result of the Watergate scandal. Reconciliation was the first goal set by President Richard M. Nixon. The Nation was painfully divided, with turbulence in the cities and war overseas. During his Presidency, Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation. His election in 1968 had climaxed a career unusual on two counts: his early success and his comeback after being defeated for President in 1960 and for Governor of California in 1962. Born in California in 1913, Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan; they had two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific. On leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his California district.

In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years later, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, to be his running mate. As Vice President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower Administration. Nominated for President by acclamation in 1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he again won his party's nomination, and went on to defeat Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace. His accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing. Some of his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons.

In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria. In his 1972 bid for office, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record. Within a few months, his administration was embattled over the so-called "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of administration officials resigned; some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to divert the investigation. As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President.

Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin "that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." In his last years, Nixon gained praise as an elder statesman. By the time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy. The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. For more information about President Nixon, please visit WashingtonPost.com: Nixon Resigns Nixon Resigns Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 9, 1974; Page A01 Richard Milhous Nixon announced last night that he will resign as the 37th President of the United States at noon today. Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan will take the oath as the new President at noon to complete the remaining 2 1/2 years of Mr. Nixon's term.

After two years of bitter public debate over the Watergate scandals, President Nixon bowed to pressures from the public and leaders of his party to become the first President in American history to resign. "By taking this action," he said in a subdued yet dramatic television address from the Oval Office, "I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." Vice President Ford, who spoke a short time later in front of his Alexandria home, announced that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will remain in his Cabinet. The President-to-be praised Mr. Nixon's sacrifice for the country and called it "one of the vary saddest incidents that I've every witnessed." Mr. Nixon said he decided he must resign when he concluded that he no longer had "a strong enough political base in the Congress" to make it possible for him to complete his term of office. Declaring that he has never been a quitter, Mr. Nixon said that to leave office before the end of his term " is abhorrent to every instinct in my body." But "as President, I must put the interests of America first," he said.

While the President acknowledged that some of his judgments "were wrong," he made no confession of the "high crimes and misdemeanors" with which the House Judiciary Committee charged him in its bill of impeachment. Specifically, he did not refer to Judiciary Committee charges that in the cover-up of Watergate crimes he misused government agencies such as the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. After the President's address, Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski issued a statement declaring that "there has been no agreement or understanding of any sort between the President or his representatives and the special prosecutor relating in any way to the President's resignation." Jaworski said that his office "was not asked for any such agreement or understanding and offered none." His office was informed yesterday afternoon of the President's decision, Jaworski said, but "my office did not participate in any way in the President's decision to resign." Mr. Nixon's brief speech was delivered in firm tones and he appeared to be complete control of his emotions. The absence of rancor contrasted sharply with the "farewell" he delivered in 1962 after being defeated for the governorship of California.

An hour before the speech, however, the President broke down during a meeting with old congressional friends and had to leave the room. He had invited 20 senators and 26 representatives for a farewell meeting in the Cabinet room. Later, Sen. Barry M. Goldwater (R-Ariz.), one of those present, said Mr. Nixon said to them very much what he said in his speech. "He just told us that the country couldn't operate with a half-time President," Goldwater reported. "Then he broke down and cried and he had to leave the room. Then the rest of us broke down and cried." In his televised resignation, after thanking his friends for their support, the President concluded by saying he was leaving office "with this prayer: may God's grace be with you in all the days ahead." As for his sharpest critics, the President said, "I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me." He called on all Americans to "join together . . . in helping our new President succeed." The President said he had thought it was his duty to persevere in office in face of the Watergate charges and to complete his term.

"In the past days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort," Mr. Nixon said. His family "unanimously urged" him to stay in office and fight the charges against him, he said. But he came to realize that he would not have the support needed to carry out the duties of his office in difficult times. "America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress," Mr. Nixon said. The resignation came with "a great sadness that I will not be here in this office" to complete work on the programs started, he said. But praising Vice President Ford, Mr. Nixon said that "the leadership of America will be in good hands." In his admission of error, the outgoing President said: "I deeply regret any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision." He emphasized that world peace had been the overriding concern of his years in the White House.

When he first took the oath, he said, he made a "sacred commitment" to "consecrate my office and wisdom to the cause of peace among nations." "I have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge," he said, adding that he is now confident that the world is a safer place for all peoples. "This more than anything is what I hoped to achieve when I sought the presidency," Mr. Nixon said. "This more than anything is what I hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as I leave the presidency." Noting that he had lived through a turbulent period, he recalled a statement of Theodore Roosevelt about the man "in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood" and who, if he fails "at least fails while daring greatly." Mr. Nixon placed great emphasis on his successes in foreign affairs. He said his administration had "unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People's Republic of China." In the mideast, he said, the United States must begin to build on the peace in that area.

And with the Soviet Union, he said, the administration had begun the process of ending the nuclear arms race. The goal now, he said, is to reduce and finally destroy those arms "so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world." The two countries, he added, "must live together in cooperation rather than in confrontation." Mr. Nixon has served 2,026 days as the 37th President of the United States. He leaves office with 2 1/2 years of his second term remaining to be carried out by the man he nominated to be Vice President last year. Yesterday morning, the President conferred with his successor. He spent much of the day in his Executive Office Building hideaway working on his speech and attending to last-minute business. At 7:30 p.m., Mr. Nixon again left the White House for the short walk to the Executive Office Building. The crowd outside the gates waved U.S. flags and sang "America" as he walked slowly up the steps, his head bowed, alone. At the EOB, Mr. Nixon met for a little over 20 minutes with the leaders of Congress -- James O.

Eastland (D-Miss.), president pro tem to the Senate; Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.), Senate majority leader; Hugh Scott (R-Pa.), Senate minority leader; Carl Albert (D-Okla.), speaker of the House; and John Rhodes (R-Ariz.), House minority leader. It was exactly six years ago yesterday that the 55-year-old Californian accepted the Republican nomination for President for the second time and went on to a narrow victory in November over Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey. "I was ready. I was willing. And events were such that this seemed to be the time the party was willing for me to carry the standard," Nixon said after winning first-ballot nomination in the convention at Miami Beach. In his acceptance speech on Aug. 8, 1968, the nominee appealed for victory to "make the American dream come true for millions of Americans." "To the leaders of the Communist world we say, after an era of confrontation, the time has come for an era of negotiation," Nixon said. The theme was repeated in his first inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1969, and became the basis for the foreign policy of his first administration.

Largely because of his breakthroughs in negotiations with China and the Soviet Union, and partly because of divisions in the Democratic Party, Mr. Nixon won a mammoth election victory in 1972, only to be brought down by scandals that grew out of an excessive zeal to make certain he would win re-election. Mr. Nixon and his family are expected to fly to their home in San Clemente, Calif. early today. Press secretary Ronald L. Ziegler and Rose Mary Woods, Mr. Nixon's devoted personal secretary for more than two decades, will accompany the Nixons. Alexander M. Haig Jr., the former Army vice chief of staff who was brought into the White House as staff chief following the resignation of H.R. (Bob) Haldeman on April 30, 1973, has been asked by Mr. Ford to remain in his present position. It is expected that Haig will continue in the position as staff chief to assure an orderly transfer of responsibilities but not stay indefinitely. The first firm indication yesterday that the President had reached a decision came when deputy press secretary Gerald L. Warren announced at 10:55 a.m.

that the President was about to begin a meeting in the Oval Office with the Vice President. "The President asked the Vice President to come over this morning for a private meeting -- and that is all the information I have at this moment," Warren said. He promised to post "some routine information, bill actions and appointments" and to return with additional information" in an hour or so." Warren's manner and the news he had to impart made it clear at last that resignation was a certainty. Reports already were circulating on Capitol Hill that the President would hold a reception for friends and staff members late in the day and a meeting with congressional leaders. Shortly after noon, Warren announced over the loudspeaker in the press room that the meeting between the President and the Vice President had lasted for an hour and 10 minutes. At 2:20 p.m., press secretary Ziegler walked into the press room and, struggling to control his emotions, read the following statement: "I am aware of the intense interest of the American people and of you in this room concerning developments today and over the last few days. This has, of course, been a difficult time.

"The President of the United States will meet various members of the bipartisan leadership of Congress here at the White House early this evening. "Tonight, at 9 o'clock, Eastern Daylight Time, the President of the United States will address the nation on radio and television from his Oval Office." The room was packed with reporters, and Ziegler read the statement with difficulty. Although his voice shook, it did not break. As soon as he had finished, he turned on his heel and left the room, without so much as a glance at the men and women in the room who wanted to question him. There were tears in the eyes of some of the secretaries in the press office. Others, who have been through many crises in recent years and have become used to overwork, plowed ahead with their duties, with telephones ringing incessantly. In other offices, loyal Nixon workers reacted with sadness but also with resignation and defeat. They were not surprised, and some showed a sense of relief that at last the battle was over. Some commented bitterly about former aides H.R. (Bob) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman.

The President's loyal personal aide and valet Manola Sanchez, a Spanish-born immigrant from Cuba whose independence and wit are widely admired, did not hide his feelings. Speaking bluntly to some of his old friends, he castigated aides he said had betrayed the President. One long-time official, who heard about the Sanchez remarks, commented: "They [Haldeman and Ehrlichman] tried three times to fire him because they couldn't control him. Imagine, trying to fire someone like Manola." But why did the President always rely on Ehrlichman and Haldeman? The official was asked. "Will we ever know?" he replied. "When Mr. Nixon was Vice President," he recalled, "he demanded that we never abuse the franking privilege. If there was any doubt, we were to use stamps. Everything had to be above board. "Surely his friendship with Ehrlichman and Haldeman was one of the most expensive in history." But the President himself, said another long-time aide, must have been two persons, the one who was motivated by high ideals and another who connived and schemed with his favorite gut-fighters.

One man who worked through most of the first Nixon term said he saw the President angry only once. Often he would say, "That will be tough politically, but we must do the right thing." When that official left his post after nearly four years of intimate association with the President, he told his wife: "I've never gotten to know what sort of man he is." One official, who has known Mr. Nixon well for many years and remains a White House aide, commented: "He is obviously a bad judge of character. But a lot was accomplished. So much more could have been accomplished but for these fun and games. It was such a stupid thing to happen." The march of events that brought about the President's downfall turned its last corner Monday when Mr. Nixon released the partial transcripts of three taped conversations he held on June 23, 1972 with Haldeman. It seemed inevitable then that this would be his last week in office, yet he continued to fight back and to insist that he would not resign. On Tuesday, the President held a Cabinet meeting and told his official family that he would not resign.

On Wednesday, however, the end appeared near, for his support on Capitol Hill was disappearing at dizzying speed. There were demands from some of his staunchest supporters that he should resign at once. Late Wednesday, the President met with Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott (R-Pa.), House Minority Leader John J. Rhodes (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Barry M. Goldwater (R-Ariz.). They said afterward that the President had made no decision, but it was obvious later that for all intents and purposes the decision had been made despite what the leaders said. They obviously could not make the announcement for him, but it must have been apparent to them that the end was at hand. Later Wednesday, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger twice conferred with Mr. Nixon, first in the early evening for half an hour and then from 9:30 p.m. until midnight. It was not known whether the two men were alone or accompanied by Haig and others. Yesterday, Kissinger met with principal deputies in the State Department to tell them what to expect and to assign tasks to different people. Messages will be sent to heads of state to notify them formally of the change.

A White House spokesman said more than 10,000 telephone calls were received in the past two days expressing "disbelief and the hope that the President would not resign." Thursday was a wet, humid August day, but despite intermittent rain the crowds packed the sidewalks in front of the White House. It was an orderly crowd, resigned and curious, watching newsmen come and go and being a part of a dramatic moment in the life of the nation. © Copyright 1974 The Washington Post Co. Vice President Agnew resigns - Oct 10, 1973 - HISTORY.com Vice President Agnew resigns Publisher A+E Networks Less than a year before Richard M. Nixon’s resignation as president of the United States, Spiro Agnew becomes the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace. The same day, he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of charges of political corruption. He was subsequently fined $10,000, sentenced to three years probation, and disbarred by the Maryland court of appeals. Agnew, a Republican, was elected chief executive of Baltimore County in 1961.

In 1967, he became governor of Maryland, an office he held until his nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1968. During Nixon’s successful campaign, Agnew ran on a tough law-and-order platform, and as vice president he frequently attacked opponents of the Vietnam War and liberals as being disloyal and un-American. Reelected with Nixon in 1972, Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973, after the U.S. Justice Department uncovered widespread evidence of his political corruption, including allegations that his practice of accepting bribes had continued into his tenure as U.S. vice president. He died at the age of 77 on September 17, 1996. Under the process decreed by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, President Nixon was instructed to the fill vacant office of vice president by nominating a candidate who then had to be approved by both houses of Congress. Nixon’s appointment of Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was approved by Congress and, on December 6, Ford was sworn in.

He became the 38th president of the United States on August 9, 1974, after the escalating Watergate affair caused Nixon to resign. Related Videos How many Presidents have resigned from office? | Reference.com How many Presidents have resigned from office? A: Quick Answer As of 2014, there has been only one president to resign from office. That president was Richard Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974. Minutes after his resignation, Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn into office as the 37th president of the United States. Full Answer Nixon's resignation can be largely attributed to the clandestine and illegal activities his administration undertook during his presidency. The activities were brought to light when members of his administration were caught breaking into the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. This scandal, named the Watergate scandal, resulted in the loss of almost all of his political support and the near-certainty of his impeachment. As a result, Nixon took to radio and television and announced his resignation.

Nixon Resigns Nixon Resigns He Urges a Time of 'Healing'; Ford Will Take Office Today The 37th President Is First to Quit Post By JOHN HERBERS Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES RELATED HEADLINES 'Sacrifice' Is Praised; Kissinger to Remain Speculation Rife on Vice President: Some Ford Associates Say Selecting a Successor Could Take Weeks Political Scene Sharply Altered: G.O.P. Prospects Improved, Ford in Good Spot for '76 and Watergate Fades Rise and Fall: Appraisal of Nixon Career Jaworski Asserts No Deal Was Made: Says Nixon Did Not Ask for and Was Not Given a Way to Avoid Prosecution A Tiny G.O.P. Bastion Feels Loss and Relief Only Nixon Is Serene at Sad White House Washington, Aug. 8 -- Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, announced tonight that he had given up his long and arduous fight to remain in office and would resign, effective at noon tomorrow. At that hour, Gerald Rudolph Ford, whom Mr. Nixon nominated for Vice President last Oct.

12, will be sworn in as the 38th President, to serve out the 895 days remaining in Mr. Nixon's second term. Less than two years after his landslide re-election victory, Mr. Nixon, in a conciliatory address on national television, said that he was leaving not with a sense of bitterness but with a hope that his departure would start a "process of healing that is so desperately needed in America." He spoke of regret for any "injuries" done "in the course of the events that led to this decision." He acknowledged that some of his judgments had been wrong. The 61-year old Mr. Nixon, appearing calm and resigned to his fate as a victim of the Watergate scandal, became the first President in the history of the Republic to resign from office. Only 10 months earlier Spiro Agnew resigned the Vice-Presidency. Speaks of Pain at Yielding Post Mr. Nixon, speaking from the Oval Office, where his successor will be sworn in tomorrow, may well have delivered his most effective speech since the Watergate scandals began to swamp his Administration in early 1973.

In tone and content, the 15-minute address was in sharp contrast to his frequently combative language of the past, especially his first "farewell" appearance- that of 1962, when he announced he was retiring from politics after losing the California governorship race and declared that the news media would not have "Nixon to kick around" anymore. Yet he spoke tonight of how painful it was for him to give up the office. "I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so," he said. Puts 'Interests of America First' "I have never been a quitter," he said. "To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body." But he said that he had decided to put "the interests of America first." Conceding that he did not have the votes in Congress to escape impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate, Mr.

Nixon said, "To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home." "Therefore," he continued, "I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office." Then he turned again to his sorrow at leaving. Although he did not mention it in his speech, Mr. Nixon had looked forward to being President when the United States celebrates its 200th anniversary in 1976. "I feel a great sadness," he said. Mr. Nixon expressed confidence in Mr. Ford to assume the office, "to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us." "By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America," he said. "I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision.

I would say only that events that if some of my judgments were wrong -- and some were wrong -- they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interests of the nation." Further, he said he was leaving "with no bitterness" toward those who had opposed him. "So let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new President succeed for the benefit of all Americans," he said. As he has many times in the past, Mr. Nixon listed what he considered his most notable accomplishments of his five and half years in office -- his initiatives in foreign policy, which he said had gone a long way toward establishing a basis for world peace. Theodore Roosevelt Is Quoted And, at the end, he expressed his own philosophy -- that to succeed is to be involved in struggle. In this he quoted Theodore Roosevelt about the value of being "the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood" and who "spends himself in a worthy cause." After spending himself in a long political career, Mr. Nixon is scheduled to fly to his home in San Clemente, Calif., and retirement tomorrow while Mr. Ford is being sworn in the Oval Office.

A White House spokesman said tonight that Mr. and Mrs. Nixon and their family would bid farewell to Cabinet members and staff personnel at 9:30 A. M. tomorrow in the East Room. Then they will board a helicopter at 10 A. M. for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, where they will emplane on the Spirit of '76, a jet aircraft, for their flight to San Clemente. Ronald L. Ziegler, the Presidential adviser and press secretary, also said that Mr. Nixon's letter of resignation would be delivered to the office of Secretary of State, Kissinger in the Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House by noon tomorrow. Mr. Nixon's announcement came only two days after he told his Cabinet that he would not resign but would let the constitutional impeachment process run its course, even though it was evident he would be removed from office after a trial by the Senate. In the next 48 hours the pressures for him to resign and turn the reins of the Government over to Mr. Ford became overwhelming. His chances of being acquitted were almost hopeless.

Senator Barry, Goldwater, the Arizona conservative who was the Republican Presidential candidate in 1964, told him that he had no more than 15 votes in the Senate, far short of the 34 he needed to be sure of escaping conviction. Members of his own staff, including Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr., the White House chief of staff, strongly recommended that he step down in the national interest. In the end only a small minority of his former supporters were urging him to stay and pledging to give him their support. It was his friends, not his legions of enemies, that brought the crucial pressures for resignation. Seventeen months of almost constant disclosures of Watergate and related scandals brought a steady attrition of support, in the country and in Congress, for what many authorities believed was the most powerful Presidency in the history of our nation. However, a Presidential statement of last Monday and three transcripts of Presidential conversations that Mr. Nixon chose to make public ultimately precipitated the crush of events of the last week. In that statement, Mr.

Nixon admitted, as the transcript showed, that, on June 23, 1972, he ordered a halt to the investigation of the break-in at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex here six days earlier by persons in the employ of agents of Mr. Nixon's re-election campaign. He also admitted that he had kept the evidence from both his attorneys and the House Judiciary Committee, which had recommended that the House impeach him on three general charges. Then came the avalanche. Republicans, Southern Democrats and others who had defended Mr. Nixon said that these actions constituted the evidence needed to support the article of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee charging obstruction of justice. And it gave new support to other charges that Mr. Nixon had widely abused his office by bringing undue Presidential pressures to bear on sensitive Government agencies. As the pressures mounted and Mr. Nixon held publicly to his resolve not to resign, the capital was thrown into a turmoil. A number of Senators anxious for a resignation began publicly predicting one. At the White House yesterday, Mr. Nixon met in his White House offices with Mrs. Nixon and his two daughters, Mrs. David Eisenhower and Mrs. Edward F. Cox, and with his close aides.

Members of his staff, acting independently of the Congressmen, sent him memorandums he had requested as to their recommendations. Most called for resignation rather than taking the country through a painful impeachment debate and vote in the House and a trial in the Senate. Last night, Raymond K. Price and other speech writers were ordered to prepare a resignation statement for use tonight. Secretary of State Kissinger met with the President late in the evening and Mr. Nixon told him that he would resign in the national interest. At 11 A.M. today, as crowds for the third day gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House, President Nixon summoned Mr. Ford to his Oval Office and officially informed him that he would submit his resignation tomorrow to the Secretary of State, as provided by Federal law, and that Mr. Ford would become President. Shortly after noon, Mr. Ziegler, the President's confidant and press secretary, his face saddened and weary, appeared in the crowded White House press room and announced that the President would go on national radio and television tonight to address the American people. As with most previous such announcements, he did not say what the President would talk about. But by that time, other Presidential aides were confirming that Mr.

Nixon planned to resign, and the tensions that had been building for days subsided. At 7:30 P.M. Mr. Nixon met in his office in the Executive Office Building with a bipartisan Congressional leadership group -- James O. Eastland, Democrat of Mississippi, President pro tem of the Senate; Mike Mansfield, Democrat of Montana, the Senate majority leader, Hugh Scott, Republican of Pennsylvania, the Senate minority floor leader, Carl Albert, Democrat of Oklahoma, the Speaker of the House, and John J. Rhodes, Republican of Arizona, the minority leader. The meeting was to give them formal notice of his resignation. Among the White House staff today there was a sadness but there were no tears, according to those there. Mr. Nixon, who was described as wretched and gray yesterday while wrestling with his decision, was described today as relaxed. To some, he appeared relieved. He ordered Mr. Price to begin drafting the resignation speech yesterday, even before he made his decision to resign, aides said. Five drafts of it were written before it was turned over to Mr. Nixon to make his own changes. It was exactly six years ago last night that Mr.

Nixon was nominated on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention to be the party's nominee for President, a note of irony that did not escape members of the President's staff. That evening marked the beginning of an ascension to power that was to put the Nixon mark on an important segment of history. After a first term marked by innovations in foreign policy and a return of resources to the state and local governments in domestic policy, Mr. Nixon in 1972, won re-election with 60.7 per cent of the vote. In early 1973, as he ended American military involvement in the Vietnam war and as he moved to strengthen the powers of his office in a multitude of ways, his popularity rating in the Gallup Poll registered 68 per cent. But as the Watergate disclosures broke his rating dropped quickly and was below 30 per cent before the end of the year. Mr. Nixon made a number of counterattacks to win back his lost popularity. He campaigned from time to time across the country as if he was running for office. He disclosed information about his taxes and property. He hired a succession of lawyers to defend him in the courts and in Congress. He made television and radio appearances.

He ordered his subordinates to step up their activities to show that the Government's business was moving ahead. He made foreign trips to show he was still a world leader. Cheered in Tour of Middle East In the Middle East in June he was cheered by vast throngs, and he held a summit meeting with Soviet leader, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow. Yet, when he returned to the United States, the Gallup Poll showed his rating at 24 per cent and the Watergate charges broke anew as the House Judiciary Committee stepped up its impeachment inquiry. His Administration was tottering when he made his remarkable statement last Monday, apparently in an effort to put his own interpretation on information that was expected to have been made public at the Watergate trials as a result of a Supreme Court decision upholding a court order for the information. When the decision to resign came, Mr. Nixon moved to achieve an orderly transition of power to Mr. Ford. General Haig, who has had broad delegated authority in recent months, met frequently with the Vice President to brief him on policy, as did other Administration officials. Mr. Kissinger gave a number of assurances that the nation's "bipartisan foreign policy" would remain firmly in place.

The Defense Department announced that American military forces around the world would continue under normal status. And across this city thousands of Federal employees performed their chores as if nothing was happening. The 37th US President - Richard Nixon Richard Nixon George W. Bush ï¿½ Richard Milhous Nixon, the thirty-seventh President of the United States (1969-74) became President in 1969 after defeating Lyndon Johnson's Vice-President, Hubert Humphrey, in one of the closest elections in US history. Nixon won that election by only one percent of the popular vote. Nixon was the second youngest Vice President and the first Californian to serve in the White House. He was also the first Vice President to be elected President, but not to succeed the President under whom he had served. He was also the first President to resign the presidency, which he did after the House Judiciary Committee voted articles of impeachment against him in 1974. Richard Nixon was a controversial President, nicknamed "Tricky Dick" and demonized by some, while admired by others for his accomplishments.

Born on January 9, l913 in Yorba Linda, California into a modest Quaker family, he spent his youth working hard and studying. A brilliant scholar, Dick Nixon graduated second in his class from Whittier College (1934), then third in his class from Duke University Law School (1937). Nixon practiced law in his hometown in Whittier, CA from 1937 to 1942. In l940, he married Thelma "Pat" Ryan. In 1942, Nixon joined the United States Navy where he served as a supply officer in the South Pacific during World War II. He left the service as a Lieutenant Commander. Back in Whittier in 1946, Nixon entered the political arena. He challenged Democratic congressman Jerry Voorhis. Nixon campaigned vigorously, and won by 16,000 votes. In 1948 and 1949, Nixon obtained national recognition while serving in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Committee on Un-American Activities. He was dogged in his support for the investigation of Alger Hiss.

Although Hiss was a former State Department official who had served as the President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he was found guilty of helping to transmit confidential government documents - called the "Pumpkin Papers" because they were hidden in a pumpkin -- to the Soviets. Nixon again used anti-communism to his advantage when, in 1950, he ran for the United States Senate against Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, a popular liberal Democrat. By dubbing her the "Pink Lady," he cast aspersions on her loyalty without actually accusing her of being a Communist. Although he won the election, his campaign tactics were widely criticized. Nevertheless, he became the bright young star in the Republican Party. In 1952, when Nixon was nominated to be Dwight Eisenhower's running mate, he was only thirty-nine years old. It was soon exposed that Nixon had accepted $18,000 for political expenses and Eisenhower's advisors wanted Nixon to resign. He responded with a brilliant speech that (because of a sentimental reference to his dog) became known as the "Checkers Speech." It saved his political career.

Eisenhower and Nixon won the election defeating the Democrat Adlai Stevenson by over 6,000,000 votes. Although during the Eisenhower years, the relationship between the President and Vice President was somewhat strained, years later Nixon's youngest daughter, Julie, married Eisenhower's grandson, David, for whom the Presidential retreat, Camp David, is named. Eisenhower and Nixon won easily in the 1956 election. As Vice President, Nixon became a vigorous Republican spokesman. In non-election years, he traveled the country trying to raise money for the party. He also achieved foreign affairs credentials by visiting numerous other countries, including the Soviet Union, where In 1959, Nixon, the anti-Communist, opened the American Exhibit in Russia. While escorting the Soviet leader through a model of an American house, an impromptu "kitchen debate" with Nikita Khrushchev made world-wide headlines. In an effort to make a strong point, Krushchev took off his shoe and banged it on the table. As undisputed party leader, Nixon easily won the Presidential nomination in 1960.

That was the year of the first televised Presidential debates, and some say Nixon's appearance put him at a disadvantage next to the young, charismatic Jack Kennedy, who won the presidency, but just barely. Out of the 70 million votes cast, JFK received a mere 113,000 more than Nixon did. In 1962 Nixon went up against the popular Pat Brown for Governor of California. He lost that election and afterward bitterly attacked the press, saying "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more." Many felt it was the end of his career. Not so. He was again nominated in l968, when he and running mate, Spiro Agnew, won the White House by 500,000 votes. Richard Nixon's main interest had long been international affairs. After being elected President in 1968, he traveled to China and also established détente with the USSR. Perhaps his greatest achievement was opening lines of communication and trade with the People's Republic of China.

Realizing the time was right for such a move, he sent a representative to secretly consult with the Chinese Premier, Mao Tse Tung, in 1971 and met with him himself in 1972. This diplomatic success amazed the critics. Within weeks of his successful China trip, Nixon was in Moscow negotiating the Strategic Arms Limitations Agreement (SALT) to reduce the chance of nuclear war. Nixon also established links with Egypt and Israel. Back in the United States, he adopted a program called the "New Federalism", which was supposed to end the habit of "throwing money at problems." He reversed many of the social and economic welfare programs of his predecessor; Lyndon Johnson. On racial matters Nixon adopted a passive stance toward efforts by African American to achieve educational, economic, and social equality, and he responded to the rising crime rate by demanding stricter law enforcement. The Nixon administration was plagued by economic problems that led to the imposition of wage and price controls in 1971. During his tenure in the White House, oil prices quadrupled. Nixon's biggest problem on both the international and domestic fronts was the War in Vietnam.

He had campaigned to end it, and began withdrawing some of the troops, calling for the "Vietnamization" of the War. At the same time, however, he escalated the bombings and in 1970 authorized the invasion of Cambodia. The following year he committed American troops to assisting in a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos. At home the campuses were exploding, and demonstrations against the war were a daily affair. Nevertheless, in the election of 1972 Nixon and Agnew, were easily reelected in a landslide victory over George McGovern. Shortly after this election, Nixon was accused of irregularities and illegalities conducted on his behalf in a scandal that became known as Watergate. An attempted burglary and wire-tapping of the office of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex had been traced back to men hired by some of the President's closest advisors. The media eventually exposed a much larger picture of political corruption. Illegal contributions, "dirty tricks", as well as irregularities in Nixon's income taxes where uncovered, and public trust dropped drastically. This overshadowed the fact that on January 28, 1973, a cease fire agreement went into effect.

After years of bloodshed, Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, had finally been able to end the Vietnam War. Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew, had been forced to resign in 1973 after pleading "no contest" to charges of income tax evasion. He was replaced by Gerald Ford. Before the Watergate investigation was over, all but one of Nixon's aides were forced to resign. In March of 1974, a federal grand jury named the President as an unindicted coconspirator in an attempt to obstruct justice in the Watergate investigation. The House Judiciary Committee began to investigate the case for impeachment. The United States Supreme Court would not allow Nixon to claim Executive Privilege in order to avoid prosecution. Ultimately, The Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment to the full House of Representatives. Rather than face trial, on August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first American President ever to resign from office. At noon on that same day, as Nixon was being flown to his retirement in California, Gerald Ford took the Oath of Office. The newly elected President granted Nixon a full pardon.

Upon his withdrawal from the American political arena, Dick Nixon turned to lecturing and writing until his death on April 22, 1994, shortly after the opening of his presidential library in Yorba Linda California. Gerald R. Ford | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Gerald R. Ford When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974 as our 38th President, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances...This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts." When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts." It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign. Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.

The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and spending as a means of solving the problems of American society and the economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift would bring a better life for all Americans. Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, he was House Minority Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He starred on the University of Michigan football team, then went to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree. During World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids, where he began the practice of law, and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to Congress in 1948, he married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan. As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former President Nixon a full pardon. His nominee for Vice President, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the second person to fill that office by appointment.

Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own. Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed at stimulating the economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures. His vetoes were usually sustained. Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs." A major goal was to help business operate more freely by reducing taxes upon it and easing the controls exercised by regulatory agencies. "We...declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers," he said. In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Viet Nam.

Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford Administration helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons. President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976, but lost the election to his Democratic opponent, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." A grateful people concurred. For more information about President Ford, please visit It's 40 years since US president Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate | Metro News Ross McGuinness for Metro Friday 8 Aug 2014 12:01 am Richard Nixon in the Oval Office (Picture: File) ‘I have never been a quitter.’ It might seem a strange line to insert into the speech announcing your resignation from the highest office in the land, but former US president Richard Nixon was one for surprises. And he was called far worse than ‘quitter’.

On August 8th, 1974, Nixon went before the American nation and told them he was stepping down, the only president to ever resign. The threat of impeachment hung over Nixon because of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, as the evidence stacked up that he knew of his administration’s connection to the infamous 1972 break-in of Democratic headquarters shortly after it took place. Nixon broke the delicate bond of trust between a democracy and its head and it could be argued that politicians have been trying to recover ever since. ‘I let the American people down. And I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life,’ said Nixon in one of the famous interviews he did with Sir David Frost three years after he resigned. But what is Nixon’s legacy? We asked two experts in American politics. * John E Owens, professor of United States government and politics at the University of Westminster : ‘Nixon was the first president to resign in office – under threat of impeachment. That simple fact will always be significant.

‘The cognoscenti – and Democratic opponents – knew all about “Tricky Dicky” and his corrupt practices even before he became president, but to have them revealed in such detail in televised congressional hearings over a two-year period – and to learn how Nixon and his staff behaved within the Oval Office – was a deep shock to most Americans. ‘Nixon’s crimes and subsequent resignation were a huge shock to the vast majority of Americans resulting in a decline in trust in government generally. ‘History moves on. Nixon remains – and always will be – a criminal who sought to usurp the Constitution, the judicial process and the separation or sharing of power system. Nixon gestures toward transcripts of White House tapes after announcing he would make them public in April 1974 (Picture: AP) ‘But the US has also become far more conservative than it was in the late ’60s and early ’70s. On today’s ideological spectrum – with the Tea Party Republicans shifting their party much further to the right – Nixon would be regarded as a centrist, or even a liberal. ‘In supporting stronger welfare provision and wage price controls, he entertained and supported government intervention in economy and society far more than the vast majority of today’s Republicans.

‘On foreign policy, he (and Henry Kissinger) were willing to seek rapprochement with the Chinese and Russians, albeit in the context of the Cold War. So that is also an important part of Nixon’s legacy. ‘Nixon was an active president – and a bad one with serious psychological hang-ups.’ * Iwan Morgan, professor of United States Studies at University College London : ‘Nixon’s presidency from the outset was bedeviled by his personality, which saw enemies everywhere, and having to govern amid the divisions of the Vietnam war. ‘He was not the first president to overstep his constitutional authority – every president from Roosevelt to LBJ did so, but none of them did so as systematically and extensively as he did. ‘The White House became involved in a variety of abuses of power ranging from deliberately deceiving Congress about the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969 to illegal political espionage that included break-ins by White House-connected operatives. The President and The King – Nixon meets Elvis Presley in 1970 (Picture: National Archive) ‘How much Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in in advance is unclear, but he was centrally engaged in the cover-up from the very start.

‘Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon after he left office was very controversial – it did not specify what crimes the ex-president had committed. So Nixon was able to spend the last 20 years of his life seeking to rebuild his reputation. He projected the image of a foreign policy maestro in retirement – but Watergate is the spot that will not out. ‘He had many achievements in the field of détente with the Soviets, opening up China, environmental reform and civil rights at home – more public schools in the South were desegregated under Nixon that under Kennedy and Johnson. But all that is secondary in historical memory to his disgrace.

‘He was truly a Shakespearean tragic figure – a man capable of greatness but undone by his personal flaws and ambition.’ Nixon shares a joke with Apollo XI astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin in July 1969 (Picture: AP) David Frost photobombs the former president before photobombing existed (Picture: AP) Frank Langella and Michael Sheen as Nixon and Frost in 2008 movie Frost/Nixon (Picture: File) Nixon flashes the V-for-victory sign as he boards his Marine One helicopter for the last time on the White House lawn on August 9, 1974, the day after he announced his resignation (Picture: Reuters) Metro Blogs is a place for opinions. These opinions belong to the author and are not necessarily shared by Metro. More

Question: Who was the only president to resign from office?
Answer: Richard Nixon